Journal Archives

Kurt Sutter, creator of the popular FX television show, Sons of Anarchy, about a gun running motorcycle gang which nominally runs a small town in Northern California recently found himself in a position where he had no choice but to put a major smackdown on Brent Bozell, founder or the Parents Television Council, self-appointed arbiters of what the rest of us should be watching on TV. Bozell published an opinion piece last week slamming the show for supposedly exploiting the Newtown tragedy for monetary gain while simultaneously “shaping children’s tastes with ultraviolent television.”

His rant was inspired by a scene in the season premiere in which there is a mass shooting in a private Catholic school. In his estimation this is the “left exploiting the tragedy in Newtown” to promote an anti gun agenda and for shock value, rejecting Sutter’s explanation that it is a part of the slow development of the plot line showing the unavoidable consequences of the gang’s illegal activities.

(snip)

Sutter was understandably outraged at the unprovoked and unjustified attack from this TEApublican and responded in kind, only with slightly more colorful language than that used by the sanctimonious Bozell in an open letter in which he refers to him as a, “pathetic fucking douchebag.” He also characterized PTC as a “hate group” which has, “no real interest in the betterment of children.”

He told Bozell, “You reek of McCarthyism and holy water. And right-minded folks can smell you coming a mile away.” He also tells him that he can motivate the, “four other members, tell them that the tattoo-covered, liberal freak who writes that baby-killing, urine dunking show said this: “You’re a pathetic fucking douchebag and I bet your own kids fucking hate you!"

Two Florida Republicans are prompting the Obama administration to open an investigation into Beyonce and Jay-Z’s recent trip to Cuba, arguing that the couple may have violated sanctions against the communist country.

Former House Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and her colleague Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart sent a letter to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Friday, calling for an investigation into whether any laws were broken during the celebrities’ trip.

Glad Republicans are so devoted to the pressing issues that are affecting this country. At least they're shedding light on the fact that over a half century later, the Cuba boycott is utterly pointless.

That whole rap about them and their newspaper being centrist is a bunch of bullshit. The paper is a rag, getting more and more expensive while slashing most of the substantial content. Left-leaning columnists have been offered buyout dismissals while half-assed right-wing columnists get their asses kissed. They haven't employed an editorial cartoonist for years, but I imagine it's because they'd rather run cartoons from hacks like Michael Ramirez and Lisa Benson.

And their other media properties? TMJ4 is all shock-and-awe 'journalism', with stories about EBT fraud, black criminals and dirty inner city restaurants. And don't get me started on the radio station, which is essentially the main propaganda outlet for the Wisconsin GOP, and chief asskisser for the likes of Walker and Ryan. When possible, I prefer the news on ch. 12 (ironic that Milwaukee's best news operation is owned by Hearst) or ch. 58 (which is too low-budget to do the fancy stuff). Both do straight reporting without the bullshit. Fox 6 is okay, but they're a bit heavy on the fluff.

So many people in Wisconsin are poorly informed and filled with rage because they're being pumped with nonsense from our terrible media.

Rob Zerban is the Democratic challenger for Wisconsin's 1st District Congressional seat, against Paul Ryan (yes, THAT Paul Ryan). Earlier today, he made a second visit to Reddit, where he participated in an "Ask Me Anything" session. Interesting perspectives on the race, which is probably the first serious challenge to Ryan since he was first elected. It's a swing district that Obama won in 2008.

So far, Zerban has outraised Ryan in this election, and has actually been running quite a bit of advertising on TV. Yes, Zerban does have a chance to help kill Ryan's political career!

WASHINGTON—In response to the shooting death of six Sikh worshippers at a temple in Oak Creek, WI yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) offered a public expression of her thankfulness that no Americans had been killed in the rampage. "It's a relief and a blessing that not a single American died in this event," Bachmann said of the incident that claimed the lives of six Americans who practice the Sikh faith. "All of us can be grateful for that. Had the gunman targeted a church or synagogue, this violent act could have been much, much worse.

Kelly Clarkson's endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on Dec. 28 may have helped draw attention to the original "American Idol" champion, but despite multiple reports from other news sites, it did little to help the sales of her "Stronger" album. According to both Nielsen SoundScan data and sources in the know at Clarkson's label, RCA, little evidence exists to support the theory that Clarkson's praise for Paul helped her sales.

In fact, her album sales actually dropped when compared with the previous week.

(snip)

In the week that ended on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, "Stronger" sold 40% fewer copies than it did the previous week (25,000, as opposed to 41,000 in the week before Christmas). And while it moved from No. 39 to No. 17 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, its upward momentum this week was caused by it having a less-steep decline in sales as compared to the rest of the titles on the chart (the overall album market was down 49% in the week after Christmas). Its total sales stand at 451,000 after 10 weeks.

(snip)

In other words, it wasn't Clarkson's political preferences that pushed digital sales of "Stronger" -- its $7.99 sale price (which was matched by AmazonMP3) and iTunes' advertising were the real reasons behind the gain. Those spikes were usually cited as evidence of the sales gain in the "Ron Paul Sales Bump" articles.